The invention relates to a drive and actuating system for an envelope-filling station in which enclosures or sets of enclosures are fed, by means of a driven conveyor, to a push-in station in which a push-in arrangement, which has a pivot drive, receives the enclosures or sets of enclosures and pushes them into envelopes, which are held ready in an open state, it being the case that the envelopes are delivered into a position opposite the push-in station, from a direction oriented transversely to the push-in direction, by means of an envelope-conveying arrangement.
An envelope-filling station of this generally known construction is described, for example, in DE 195 00 746 A1. In such an envelope-filling station, individual functional groups such as enclosure conveyor, push-in station and envelope conveyor are also synchronised with one another.
This results, in some cases, in a complicated mechanical construction or in high outlay on electrical and electronic control and synchronisation means.
DE 198 30 377 C1 discloses a drive apparatus for a mail-processing machine in which, from a step-by-step motion linkage and a bevel gear mechanism driven by a common drive motor, via belt drives, both the continuously operated enclosure-conveying chain and an intermittently operated enclosure-conveying chain as well as a push-in arrangement and an intermittently operated envelope-conveying arrangement are driven and synchronism of the operating cycles of the functional groups is achieved.
The invention is intended to achieve the object of configuring a drive and actuating system for an envelope-filling station of the general type outlined in the introduction such that a multiplicity of functions of the individual parts of the envelope-filling station can be forcibly synchronised in an adjustable manner by straightforward means and a comparatively straightforward and clear construction of the overall drive and actuating system is produced.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a drive and actuating system having the features according to claim 1.
Advantageous configurations and developments of such a drive and actuating system are characterised in the patent claims subordinate to claim 1.
It can be seen that the drive and actuating system proposed here provides for the enclosures or sets of enclosures to be conveyed up continuously and then to be received cyclically by the push-in arrangement, which has a pivot drive, and to be pushed into the envelopes, which are likewise conveyed up cyclically, transversely to the push-in direction. Both the cyclic actuation of the push-in arrangement and the cyclic actuation of the envelope-conveying arrangement, and if appropriate also the cyclic actuation of an auxiliary push-in arrangement for keeping open the envelopes provided, are derived from the continuous drive for the conveyor which, for example on the top strand of a conveying chain, delivers the enclosures or sets of enclosures to the push-in station.